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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



LOUISIANA 
AND 

ARKANSAS 
RAILWAY 




%^^?''?u^ 




LOUISIANA AND 

ARKANSAS 

RAILWAY 



.ITS TERRITORY, INDUSTRIES 
AND FINANCIAL CONDITION 

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 



1904 

FISK & ROBINSON 

New York and Boston 



Copyright, 1904, by 
FiSK & Robinson. 






i. 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

NOV 21 iyu4 

Copyngni tntry 
Vltrv. %/. /f ^V 
CUSS a- XXC. Noi 

COPY B. 




CONTENTS P.GH. 

Preface, 1 1 

States of Arkansas and Louisiana, 13 

Louisiana and Arkansas Railway, „ . . . 23 

Industries Along the Line, 30 

Principal Towns, 5" 

Financial Position, 64 

Sources of Revenue, 67 

Conclusion, 08 

Financial Statement, 77 




LITTLE RIVER, NEAR JENA 



PREFACE 

FEW people who have not kept in close touch with affliirs in the South 
realize how thoroughly that part ot the country has shaken oft its 
former depression. Perhaps the best proof ot the change that has 
taken place is the improvement in the condition ot the farming population. 
From a position ot absolute dependence for the necessaries ot lite on the 
storekeeper in whose tavor his successive crops \vere mortgaged, the average 
southern farmer has, step by step, risen clear ot debt and now has a surplus 
in the bank. Those who know the losses suffered during and after the Civil 
War can understand the severity of the struggle that the South has made to 
regain her tooting. And it is a land worthy ot a struggle. A short descrip- 
tion of the country comprising the States ot Arkansas and Louisiana, its 
resources and industries, is here oifered to the pubHc with the hope that it 
mav prove ot general interest. Particular attention has been given to the 
territory served by the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway, with a view to bring- 
ing the securities ot that road more prominently betore the notice ot investors. 

The agricultural growth ot the South is best illustrated by the increased 
value of its products, which has risen from $660,000,000 in 1880 to 
$1,700,000,000 in 1903. In manufactures the advance is even more 
striking, the value of all manufactured products having grown from 
$457,000,000 to $1,600,000,000 and the capital invested in factories from 
$257,000,000 to $1,200,000,000. Southern mills now consume an 
amount of cotton practically equal to that used by northern spinners, while 
in 1880 their consumption was only 13 per cent, of that in the North. 
Over 60,000 miles of railroad are now in operation, as compared with 
20,000 miles in 1880, and the annual exports through Southern ports have 
increased from $261,000,000 to $559,000,000. 

The strategic position ot the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway is apparent to 
any one familiar with the resources of its territory, as the road forms a link 
between the immense longleaf pine forests of Louisiana and the treeless prairies 
ot the West. Upon the completion ot its Natchez extension, if not before, 
the road will form part of a through route from the Central West to New 
Orleans and a large amount ot foreign business should result. 

Manufacturing enterprises of various sorts are rapidly springing up and 
their output, together with the agricultural products of the country tributary to 
the road, constitutes an amount of outgoing freight that makes the Louisiana and 
Arkansas Railway particularly valuable to its connections. 

Lack of space prevents the description of anv but the principal industries 
on the line. For a similar reason the number of illustrations is limited, but 
those presented fairly represent exisdng conditions throughout the country 
served by the road. 

November i, 1904. 







CYPRESS WOODS NEAR STAMPS 



nr 



STATES OF ARKANSAS AND LOUISIANA 

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS 

HE States of Arkansas and Louisiana together 
■ comprise about 100,000 square miles of territory, 

of which approximately three-eighths consists of 
alluvial lands, the remainder being generally good upland. 
On the Gulf Coast of Louisiana are coast marshes, still in 
process of formation by river deposits of mud and clay. 
From the marshes a broad band of alluvial land runs 
northward, dividing into three strips, which extend along 
the principal water courses and reach well into Arkansas. 
The country throughout Arkansas is generally level, but it 
rises to 2,800 feet in the Ozark Mountains. In drainage 
both States are particularly fortunate, having an abundance 
of streams, among which are the Mississippi, Red, Black, 
Arkansas and White rivers. The country bordering the 
rivers is protected from inundation bv a system of levees 
now nearing completion and already extending for 1,430 
miles in Louisiana alone. The cost of construction and 
maintenance of these levees is met partly by the United 
States Government and partly by local taxation. Good 
drinking water is obtainable in almost every part of both 
States. The rainfall is ample and well distributed, averag- 
ing from forty to fifty-five inches per annum. These figures 
compare with other states as follows : 

Illinois, 35 to 45 

Kansas, l 5 to 3 5 

New York, :; 5 to 40 

Texas, 1 5 to 45 

The idea that the climate is a trying one for white people 
is wide-spread but very erroneous. The white farmers out- 
number the black, and many of them work in the fields the 



14 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY. 




POPLAR LOG CUT NEAR JENA, LA. 

entire year without negro help. South winds prevail during 
the warm months and the delightful sea breeze makes the 
summer, in the opinion of many, the pleasantest time of the 
year. The thermometer in Louisiana seldom reaches 95 
degrees and the nights are generally cool. The winters are 
short and usually mild, permitting work in the fields through- 
out the year. 

In point of health the States of Arkansas and Louisiana 
compare with some of the Eastern States as follows: 

Death Rate 
per 1,000. 

Arkansas, 17.2 

Louisiana, 15.2 

Maine, 17.5 

Massachusetts, '^1-1 

New York, 17.9 

POPULATION 
The census returns indicate a steady growth in the pop- 
ulation of the two states, although neither has witnessed any 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



15 



of the booms that have temporarily affected some of the 
Western States. Figures are as follows : 

Arkansas. Louisiana. 

1870, -. . 484'47' 726,915 

1880, 802,525 939,946 

1890, 1,128,179 1,118,587 

1900, 1,311,564 1,381,625 

Large as the increases here indicated are, they do not 
reflect present conditions. Since 1900, thousands of settlers 
have immigrated from less favored parts of the country and 
many towns have doubled in size. 




LONGLEAF PINES 



i6 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



RESOURCES 

Before considering in detail the region tributary to the 
Louisiana and Arkansas Railway, it will be interesting to note 
the vast natural resources of the two states in which the 
road is situated and the steps that have been taken for 
their development. First worthy of mention, perhaps, is 
the great fertility of the soil. Practically every acre is sub- 
ject to a high degree of cultivation. The products range 
from cotton, sugar cane, rice and tobacco in the alluvial 
districts to wheat, oats and barley in the uplands. The 
cotton crop, valued last year at about ^100,000,000, is 
the most important, although the production of cereals is 
fast increasing, amounting to 75,000,000 bushels in 1899, 
as compared with 53,000,000 bushels in 1889. 

Vegetables of every kind and fruits of all sorts, from 
the tropical orange to the hardy apple, can be produced 
in abundance and of superior quality. The farmers hitherto 
have paid comparatively little attention to horticulture, 
but the efforts of the State Colleges and the State Board of 




CUTTING SUGAR CANE 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 17 




DRIVE NKAR MINDEN 



Agriculture are begin- 
ning to show results, as 
appears from the in- 
crease in the number of 
fruit trees. Between 
1 8 90 and 1 900 the num- 
ber of peach trees in 
Arkansas increased from 
2,769,000 to 4,062,000, 
or 47 per cent. ; apple 
trees from 2,114,000 
to 7,486,000, or 254 
per cent. ; and plum 
trees from 375,000 to 
1,082,000, or 188 per 
cent. In the same time the area devoted to potato growing 
in both states was enlarged 13,000 acres, or 59 per cent. 
Accompanying the increase in acreage devoted to truck 
farming has been a decrease in the average size of farms, 
indicating a more general adoption of the intensive system 
of farming. In the ten years from 1890 to 1900 this 
decrease in Arkansas was from 119 to 93 acres and in 
Louisiana from 138 to g^ acres. 

In comparison with the value per acre of crops pro- 
duced, the value of land in both states is low. In 1899 the 
value of farm products of the two States amounted to 62 
per cent, of the total value of farm land with improvements. 
In New York this ratio was only ^3 per cent., in Ohio 24 
per cent, and in Illinois 17 per cent. 

The mineral resources of Arkansas and Louisiana are 
largely undeveloped. Arkansas coal is of superior quality 
and is distributed through approximately i ,000,000 acres of 
land, yet in 1902 only 1,500,000 tons were mined, the out- 
put of perhaps 300 acres. Arkansas zinc has taken first 



i8 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




CHURCH AT WINNFIELD 



prize in competition with the world and is found in inex- 
haustible amounts. Its mines are the only ones east of 
the Rockies in which antimony is found in commercial 
quantities. Chalk and cement are produced to a consid- 
erable extent and good clay for drain pipes exists in the 
southern part of the State. The limestone of Arkansas 
has hardly been touched and the deposits are enormous. 
The state is also favored in the possession of kaolin, used 
in the production of aluminum, and it is one of the few 
regions in which bauxite, the richest known variety of 
aluminum ore, is found in commercial quantities. 

Louisiana has salt deposits sufficient to supply the 
United States and is now shipping about i,ooo tons of salt 
daily. Its sulphur mines are the richest in the world. 
One company owns 40,000,000 tons. Marble and lime- 
stone occur at several places and oil is often found in 
conjunction with the latter. Lignite is reported in the 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



'9 



northwestern part of the state, but no commercial use has 
yet been made of it. Good brick clay of several grades 
and sandstone suitable for building purposes are found in 
great quantity. Extensive gravel beds furnish material for 
street improvement and railroad ballast. Gypsum exists in 
conjunction with limestone throughout the state and large 
beds underlie the sulphur in Southern Louisiana. These 
deposits have never been worked. 



MANUFACTURES 

As a natural result of the present keen competition in 
business, the tendency of manufacturing establishments is 
to gravitate to the source of supply of raw material. For 
this reason the number of factories in the South has shown 
a great gain in the last decade. Not only have new plants 
been erected, but many have been moved from other less 
favored parts of the country. Lumber mills, sugar cane 




RESIDENCE AT MINDEN 



20 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



factories, cotton mills and canning factories, all tell the 
story of the industrial growth of this section. That many 
of the New England cotton mills are not making expenses, 
because of the lower cost of production by southern enter- 
prises, is an open secret. The figures below, showing the 
growth of three leading industries in the States of Arkansas 
and Louisiana, from 1890 to 1900, speak for themselves: 

LUMBER MILLS Increase. 

1890. 1900. Per Cent. 

Establishments, . 666 i>63i 145 

Capital, . . . $12,643,000 $41,821,000 

Output, . . . $14,688,000 $41,368,000 

COTTON SEED PRODUCTS 

Establishments, . 15 44 

Capital, . . . $2,571,000 $7,107,000 

Output, . . . $3,455,000 $10,215,000 

SUGAR AND MOLASSES FACTORIES 
1800. 1900. 

Establishments, . 38 384 

Capital, . . . $1,944,000 $52,799,000 

Output, . . . $12,604,000 $47,892,000 



231 
182 



193 
176 
196 

Increase. 
Per Cent. 

911 
2,616 

280 




HOPE COTTONSEED OIL MILL 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 21 




BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF LUMBER 1 .-vklJb Ai STAMPS 



22 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




OFFICES AND STATION AT STAMPS 



LOU^IANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



LOaSIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 

THE Louisiana and Arkansas Railway Company was 
organized in June, 1 902, to take over the assets of the 
/ Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad, a corporation oper- 
atino- 725.3 miles of line between Stamps, Ark., and Winn- 
field* La. Under the management of the Railway Company 
th/northern extension of 22,47 miles from Stamps to Hope, 
>Ark., was undertaken and the southern end of the line was 
extended from Winnfield to Jena, La., a distance of 39.43 
miles, making the total length 187.20 miles. As the line 
from Winnfield to Jena is not yet open for traffic, the length 
of road operated is 147.77 i^iiles. Two extensions are pro- 
jected, one from Jena east to Natchez, Miss., 47 miles, and 
the other from Packton south to Alexandria, ^^ miles. 

Starting south from Hope, the road runs for some dis- 
tance through a prosperous farming country. It then 
traverses the shortleaf pine belt and near Goldonna enters 
the longleaf pine belt, which continues unbroken to the 
present southern terminus at Jena, La. 

The farming land tributary to the road is very produc- 
tive and its area is constantly increasing through the cutting 
away of timber. The longleaf pine along the southern end 
of the line is among the best now standing and it will last 
for fully twenty-five years at the present rate of cutting. 
Moreover, the management of the railroad is in the hands 
of men closely affiliated with the interests controlling the 
immense timber resources of the region, so that the road is 
and will continue to be immune from competition for this 

tonnao-e. 

^ CONNECTIONS 

In considering the subject of connections it will be seen 
at once that the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway occupies a 
strategic position of great importance. At Hope, its north- 
ern terminus, it connects with the Iron Mountain and the 



26 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



'Frisco systems, affording competing routes for traffic to the 
North, East and West. At Stamps it connects with the 
St. Louis Southwestern ("Cotton Belt") and business can 
be delivered to that line for transportation in the same three 
directions. The Viclcsburg, Shreveport & Pacific ("Oueen 
& Crescent") system, extending east and west, is crossed at 
Sibley. From Chestnut, La., the Louisiana & Northwest 
extends north and south. From Winnfield the Arkansas 
Southern runs north to a connection with the "Queen & 
Crescent" system and is building south to Alexandria. At 
the same point the Louisiana Railway & Navigation Com- 
pany affords a southern outlet to New Orleans. At George- 
town the Iron Mountain is crossed, affording an additional 
New Orleans connection, while on the projected extension 
east to Natchez, the Texas & Pacific will be met at Con- 
cordia and the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley at Natchez, 
giving four competitive routes for south-bound traffic. 
When the Alexandria line is built the road will be in a still 
more independent position, as it will meet the Southern 
Pacific in addition to obtaining a second connection with the 
Texas & Pacific. 

Competition for the large amount of business originating 
on the line of the road insures to the Louisiana and Arkansas 




MINDEN STATION 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 2; 



Railway not only satisfiictory service from connections, but 
also a generous proportion of through freight rates. For 
the interchange of traffic natural conditions are in its favor. 
Coal, which is obtainable in Western Arkansas, does not 
exist in Southern Louisiana, while lumber, which is cut in 
enormous quantities along the southern part of the road, is 
in great demand in the treeless prairie country to the 
north and west of the line. A steady interchange of loaded 
cars, with consequent low empty car mileage, should result 
from this state of affairs. Upon the completion of the Nat- 
chez extension, if not before, the Louisiana and Arkansas 
Railway will be part of a through line from the grain fields 
of the West to New Orleans, the leading point of export in 
the South. In addition to grain, large quantities of flour 
and coal should seek tidewater over this route. For north- 
bound traffic the road will have, in addition to the heavy 
freight business that originates on its lines, sugar, tobacco 
and rice from the plantations in Southern Louisiana and 
imports received through New Orleans. The business done 
through this port has grown wonderfully within the last few 
years, as is shown below: 

Year ended June 30, 1890. 1900. I9°4- 

Exports, . $108,000,000 $116,000,000 $149,000,000 
Imports, . 15,000,000 17,000,000 34,000,000 

As compared with the previous year the Gulf ports con- 
stitute the only group reporting an increase in exports for 
the fiscal year ended June 30, 1904. According to the fig- 
ures of the Department of Commerce and Labor, the 
exports through Gulf ports rose ^52,000,000, or 17 per 
cent., while those through every other group showed a de- 
crease, the losses ranging from ^1,500,000 in the South 
Atlantic to $5,500,000 in the North Atlantic. New Orleans 
is now the second point of export in this country. With 
the opening of the Panama Canal a large part of the traffic 



28 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 

now going to the Orient by way of the Pacific Coast will be 
diverted to this port and the Louisiana and Arkansas Rail- 
way, because of its location, is the natural route for much of 
the new business. 

PHYSICAL CONDITION 

About 60 per cent, of the operated mileage of the Lou- 
isiana and Arkansas Railway is laid with 75-pound rails, the 
remainder being 60-pound, which is to be replaced with the 
heavier section. The 75-pound rail is the heaviest used by 
any of the roads in that part of the country. The ties are 
of white oak, spaced about i 8 inches, and are cut from tim- 
ber growing along the line. The grade and alignment are 
unusually good, the maximum grade being i ^^ per cent., 
and the maximum curvature 4 degrees. Only one steel 
bridge is needed and that is now under construction. The 
roadbed is surfaced with superior gravel obtained near 
Stamps. During the year the company has secured addi- 
tional extensive beds of this gravel near Jena, furnishing an 
unlimited supply of ballast for the southern end of the line. 

The company's right of way is 100 feet wide through- 
out and is cleared to width for the entire distance. The 
terminal facilities are ample and satisfactory conditions exist 
for the exchange of freight with connections. 

The stations are of wood, commodious and well main- 
tained. That at Stamps is occupied jointly with the St. 
Louis Southwestern Railway. A new passenger and freight 
station will shortly be built at Hope by the Louisiana and 
Arkansas, the 'Frisco and the Iron Mountain. Water 
stations are located at intervals of about twenty miles and 
are of standard size. Machine shops are situated at 
Stamps and are sufficient for the needs of the company. 

The equipment, consisting of 24 locomotives, 10 passen- 
ger cars and 806 freight and work cars, is in good condition. 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 29 




..% 



SOUTH-BOUND FREIGHT TRAIN 



3° 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



INDUSTRIES ALONG THE LINE 

LUMBERING 

Within a few years the South will be the only part of 
this country east of the Rocky Mountains in which pine 
timber will be obtainable. But little remains of the white 
pine forests of the North. The days of Pennsylvania 
hemlock are numbered and the Oregon and Washington 

firs are debarred from 
eastern markets by the 
excessive freight rates. 
That the southern mills 
have superseded those in 
the North is evidenced 
by the large sales in 
such states as Michigan 
and Wisconsin, where 
northern pine was once 
obtained. The whole 
Mississippi Valley looks 
to the South for lumber 
and even Canada obtains 
part of her supply from 
these mills. 

Two kinds of pine 
are found in great abun- 
dance near the line of the 
Louisiana and Arkan- 
sas Railway, that along 
the northern end of the 
road being shortleaf, with hardwoods in the creek bottoms, 
while the southern part of the road runs through forests of 
longleaf. 

Of the two classes the shortleaf is best suited to interior 
finish work. The longleaf timber is in demand for work 




CUTTING TIMBER AT SPRING HILL 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




HAULING LOGS TO LOADER 



in which strength is required and large quantities are used 
in bridge building. Lumbering operations on an important 
scale throughout this region are of comparatively recent 
date, although far-seeing lumbermen of the North have 




C^i^'^S- 



■t^KKSSSSS' 




LlH, LOADKK Ar SPKIN(; HILL 



32 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 

been buying timber lands in Louisiana for twenty years. 
Interests affiliated with the management of the Louisiana 
and Arkansas Railway own or control in the neighborhood 
of 6,000,000,000 feet of standing timber, the transporta- 
tion of which is assured to the road. Almost all of this 




TRAIN OF LOADEn LOG CARS 



tonnage pays two freights, one on the rough logs and 
another on the finished lumber. 

The longleaf pine along the southern end of the road 
has been pronounced by men thoroughly conversant with 
the lumber business to be one of the finest bodies of stand- 
ing timber in the South. The United States Department 
of Forestry, in grading southern pine lands, makes no 
higher classification than 4,000 to 6,000 feet per acre. 
Mile after mile of the timber between Winnfield and Jena, 
on the line of the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway, averages 
15,000 feet per acre and in places the yield runs as high as 
50,000 feet per acre. One unusually large tree cut over 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



33 




UNLOADING LUMBER AT STAMPS 



7,000 feet. The trees grow very straight and have few 
branches, the distance to the lowest limbs being often fifty 
or seventy-five feet. The ground under the trees is usually 
covered by grass and is generally devoid of underbrush. 
Forest fires consequently do almost no damage. 

The various steps attendant upon the transformation of 
the standing tree into finished lumber may be of considerable 
interest to those who have not visited a modern sawmill. 
The methods described below are those in general use 
throughout the southern pine belt. 




LOG POND AND RUNWAY AT STAMPS 



34 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



In order to facilitate operations, a lumber company 
usually constructs a branch railroad, or spur, from the mill 
to its timber, cutting trees on both sides of this spur and 
continuing the track as fast as the timber is cut away. Small 
frame houses, which can be transported on flat cars, are put 
up for the men and their families. When a tree has been 
felled, an operation usually accomplished by sawing, it is 
sawn into sections and hauled by ox teams to the spur. 
There the logs are loaded on flat cars, either by oxen or by 
a steam loader. Some of the camps employ steam "skid- 
ders," which "snake" the logs along the ground by means 
of steel cables. 

The loaded flat cars are hauled to the sawmill and 
unloaded directly into a pond, from which an endless chain, 
operating in an inclined runway, carries the logs to the floor 
of the mill, where they are rolled down a "log deck" to the 
"steam nigger." This consists of a pair of steel arms of 
immense power which throws the logs, one by one, into posi- 




LOG CARRIAGE IN OPERATION 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 35 




INTERIOR VIEW OF SAWMILL AT STAMPS 



tion on a carriage where they are caught and held by a series 
of teeth. The carriage then travels back and forth beside 




PLANING MILL AT STAMPS 



36 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 

a band saw, which "slabs" each log, after which the squared 
timber passes to the gang saw to be cut into boards by a 
number of parallel saw blades operated in unison. Some 
mills have no gang saw but cut the logs into boards by the 
band saw, one board being cut at every trip of the carriage, 
either "going" or "going and coming," as the case may be. 




LUMBER YARD AT STAMPS 



The boards next pass to "edgers" and "trimmers," by 
which they are cut to width and length, after which they are 
automatically sorted according to size. Those of first 
quality are placed in kilns and steam dried for a period of 
from 24 to 48 hours, while those of slightly inferior grade 
are air dried for about three months. If intended for 
immediate shipment the dried lumber is sent to the planing 
mill, whence it is loaded directly into the cars. If not 
needed at once it is stored according to size and quality. 
The available refuse is used partly for making laths, barrel 
headings, moldings, etc., and partly as fuel. 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



37 



OTHER FOREST PRODUCTS 

The pine forests yield, in addition to lumber, various 
other products, such as turpentine, rosin, tar and pitch, 
articles that are of great commercial value and that furnish an 
important source of revenue to the lumberman. The 
handling of these "naval stores" is of itself a great industry. 
The trees are first " boxed " to collect the raw turpentine, 
which is refined by distillation, producing commercial oil of 
turpentine and leaving rosin as a residue. Tar is made by 
distilling pine knots and roots, an operation which produces 
about 40 gallons to a cord of wood. Upon boiling this 
down to two-thirds of its original weight pitch is produced. 
Various products are obtained from the leaves or "straw" 
of the pine. By distillation an oil similar to turpentine is 
secured, while pine-wool, made by chemical treatment, is 
used for the manufacture of matting and in upholstery work. 
From the small trees and limbs charcoal is made. 




LOADING LUMBER AT STAMPS 



38 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




COTTON riELD, NEAR MCKAMIK 



COTTON 

The cotton crop of the United States last year was second 
in value only to that of corn and constituted about 80 per 
cent, of the world's commercial supply. Various attempts 
have been made to wrest from this country its supremacy, 
but such attempts have met with either failure or only 
partial success. The South continues to control what is 
probably the most complete monopoly ever existing in the 
agricultural world. 

Since 1880 the acreage devoted to cotton in this country 
has more than doubled, while that of corn has increased 
only 50 per cent, and that of wheat 30 per cent. Con- 
sumption has advanced more rapidly than production, how- 
ever, and the resources of the growers are taxed to meet 
the ever-increasing demands. 

The States of Arkansas and Louisiana are well adapted 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 39 




COTTON PICKING 




INTERIOR OF COTTON GIN AT HOPE 



4° 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



to the raising of cotton, Louisiana standing second among the 
states with an average yield of .565 bale to the acre. 
Arkansas is fourth on the list, with .507 bale to the acre. 
Much of the country along the line of the Louisiana and 
Arkansas Railway is well suited to cotton growing, yielding 
in places as much as a bale and a third per acre. Situated at 
some distance back from the Red River, the land is not 
subject to inundations, such as annually threaten the crop 
in other parts of the South. The acreage tributary to the 





Liiyj--^0J^4 






»- 



WEIGHING COTTON AT COMPRESS 



railroad is constantly increasing. The cotton tonnage orig- 
inating on the line during the year ended June 30, 1904, 
increased ^^ per cent., as compared with the previous year. 

Cotton is planted from about March 15th to May ist 
and matures in the autumn. Picking is still done by hand, 
although numerous attempts have been made to use 
machines. Since not all of the bolls mature at the same 
time and sometimes three or four pickings are needed to 
cover a field, these efforts have met with small success. 

When picked, the raw staple, containing the seed, is 
taken to the nearest gin. Here the fibre is stripped from 
the seed by means of a number of circular saws mounted 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 41 

about three-quarters of an inch apart and revolving in the 
openings of a grid or openwork frame. Kach ginnery con- 
tains a press to shape the cotton into a rough bale, in which 
■ form it is transported to a compress that handles the output 
of perhaps twenty or thirty gins. Here the cotton is sub- 
jected to tremendous pressure, about half a ton to the 
square inch, and after being bound by steel bands is ready 
for shipment to the mill. 

At the mill the bale is opened and the cotton is fed into 
a "picker," thence going to the "lap machine." These 
operations clean the cotton, delivering it to the "scutcher" 
in the form of a wide strip or "lap." From the "scutcher" 
the cotton comes in the same form as from the previous 
machine, but as several laps are combined any inequality in 
one is offset by the combination with the others. 

The next step is the carding, a process in which the cot- 
ton is combed out between two sets of fine teeth, one set on 
a rapidly-revolving cylinder. This arranges the fibres in 
parallel lines on the cylinder, from which it is taken in the 
form of a very light fleece and passed through a funnel, issu- 
ing in the form of a cord of cotton fibre about half an inch 
thick. In order to insure uniformity, several of these cords 
are combined by a drawing frame, after which the embryo 
cotton yarn passes successively to the "slubbing frame," the 
"intermediate frame," the "roving frame" and the "fine 
roving frame." These machines draw out the cotton by 
means of two sets of rollers, one revolving at a higher speed 
than the other, while a certain amount of twist is given to 
impart strength. 

The cotton "roving," as it is now called, passes to one 
of three machines, a "ring frame," a "throstle frame," or a 
"mule." In the "mule," which is perhaps in most general 
use, the roving is drawn out between rollers, twisted and 
wound on spindles mounted on a traveling carriage. The 



42 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




INTERIOR OF COTTON COMPRESS, HOPE 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 43 




COTTuN- AWAll ING SHIPMENT 



bobbins on which the cotton is wound revolve at almost 
inconceivable speed, some making as high as 9,000 revolu- 
tions per minute. From the "mule" the cotton comes in 
the form of finished yarn, ready for weaving into cloth. 

The threads that are to form the warp of the fabric are 
now wound on a drum and the ends passed through a series 
of combs, while the weft is placed in a shuttle that travels 




COTTON WAREHOUSE AT HOPE 



44 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 

back and forth at almost lightning speed between the threads 
of the warp. In figured goods the pattern is made by an 
ingenious mechanism of cards with holes for the insertion of 
pins, which act on levers controlling the threads of the warp. 
After leaving the loom the cotton cloth is bleached and 
such as Is to be colored Is run through a press somewhat 
similar to that used for color work in newspapers. Weight 
Is often added by dipping the cloth In some sizing before 
It leaves the mill. 

BY PRODUCTS OF THE COTTON INDUSTRY 
For many years the only product of the cotton plant 
that was considered of commercial value was the fibre and 
although some of the seed was saved for planting, the greater 
part was destroyed. The first production of oil In the 
Western Hemisphere occurred about 1783, but nothing 
further was heard on the subject until 1826, when a mill 
was established at Charleston, S. C. In i860 there were 
seven oil mills In the South ; in i 880 the number had grown 
to 45 and In 1900 to 357. Last year there were about 650 
mills in active operation. 

The process by which the oil Is extracted is very simple. 
First the cotton adhering to the seed, and known as 
"linters," is removed by a machine somewhat similar to a 
gin. The hull is then split and the kernel or seed Is ground, 
heated and subjected to pressure. This squeezes out the 
oil, leaving as residue a meal or cake. The relative amounts 
of the different parts of the seed are about as follows : 

Per Cent. 

Hulls, 47 

Meal, 36 

Oil, 14 

Linters, 3 

The value of the seed varies from $16 to |20 a ton 

and as raw fibre contains twice as much seed as cotton, the 

increased value of the crop to the farmer is considerable. 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 45 




COTTON GIN, OIL MILL AND FERTILIZER FACTORY AT MIMUN 



46 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 

Of the different products of the seed the oil is the most 
valuable, selling at from 20 to 25 cents a gallon. The 
larger part is used in the preparation of food products, such 
as cooking and salad oils and refined lard. Cotton seed 
oil is also used in the manufacture of washing powder and 
generally as a substitute for olive oil. Large amounts are 
annually sent abroad, exports having grown from 2,690,000 
gallons in 1889 to 50^627,000 gallons in 1899. 

The meal, being rich in nitrogen, furnishes an unusually 
good fertilizer and is one of the best known fatteners for 
cattle. From the hulls, fertilizer, stock feed and fuel are 
obtained, the latter two products being secured also from 
the stalks and pods. Cotton bagging is made to some 
extent from the stem and from the root a medicinal extract 
is obtained. 

GARDEN TRUCK 

The country tributary to the Louisiana and Arkansas 
Railway has many points in its favor when considered as a 




GRAPE VINEYARD NEAR STAMPS 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 47 




MELONS GROW IN ABUNnANCE 



vegetable and fruit country. Among them are fertile soil, 
a sandy loam with clay subsoil, favorable climate, sufficient 
rainfall and proximity to northern markets. Perishable 
products can be shipped from Hope to St. Louis, Kansas 
City or Chicago within 24 hours and the early spring 
enables southern growers to obtain the highest prices of the 
season. Almost any product known to the United States 
can be raised on the line. One farmer near Stamps grows 
thirty different kinds of fruits and vegetables on his land. 
Profits of $100 per acre can be obtained from potatoes 
and fruit yields in some cases as high as I500 an acre. 
Because of the relatively large return that it promises, truck 
farming throughout this section is increasing, a fact that 
is all important to the railroad, as no class of freight pays 
higher rates. As compared with the acreage in cotton 
and corn, that devoted to truck farming is comparatively 
small. Natural conditions are favorable, however, and as 
the Industrial Department of the railroad is strongly 



48 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



advocating this form of agriculture, the tonnage derived 
from fruits and vegetables should be materially increased in 
the near future. 



GENERAL AGRICULTURE 



Although not as lucrative as fruit growing, the culture 
of hay and grains is extensively pursued. Sugar cane is 
grown for syrup, while corn, sorghum, millet, clover and 
timothy are used as feed for stock. 




A CLOSE VIEW OF THE VINES 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 49 




PEACH TREE LADEN WITH FRUIT 



The temperate climate is of great advantage to the 
farmer, as he can raise two and sometimes three crops a 
year on the same ground. Alfalfa grows throughout the 
year and is often cut as many as five times, each crop yield- 
ing from $15 to $20 to the acre. Hay grows unusually 
well, Louisiana being one of the leading states in acreage 
yield. 

A great discrepancy appears between the value of land 
and the value of the crops grown thereon. At the time of 



50 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



the census report in 
1900, the counties and 
parishes traversed by the 
Louisiana and Arkansas 
Railway reported an 
average value of farming 
land, together with all 
improvements except 
buildings, of I4 per acre. 
The average value of the 
crops raised on each acre 
of improved land and 
available for sale, i.e., not 
ted to live stock, was 
^9.84. For the whole 
United States the value 
of the land was ^15.59 
per acre and the value of 
the crops ^9.07 per acre. 
In other words, the crops raised in these counties showed a 




CORN FIELD, MC KAMIE 




riELD OF ALFALFA 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY ;i 






w 







CUTTING SORGHUM 



52 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




VOUNG RIBBON SUGAR CANE 



greater acreage valuation than the average for the whole 
country, while the average value per acre of the farming 
land suitable for raising these crops was about one-fourth 
that for the whole country. The advantages possessed by 
this section for farming can have but one result and that is 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 53 







HOME-BRED HORSES, MINDEN 



54 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




CATTLE RAISED AT MCKAMIE 



immigration. All that is necessary to secure new settlers is 
intelligent advertising and that has already been started 
among the class most interested, viz. : farmers owning high- 
priced lands in other parts of the country. 

LIVE STOCK 
Several superior sorts of food for cattle, such as alfalfa, 
lespedeza and cow peas, can be grown at almost every 
point on the railroad. Corn and cotton stalks furnish an 
additional source of feed, and farmers are learning that the 
conversion of these products mto beef is unusually profit- 
able. Cotton seed meal, one of the best fatteners known, 
is obtainable at any one of the many oil mills scattered 
throughout the country. Local stock breeders use large 
amounts of this feed and, in addition, thousands of Texas 
cattle, on their way to the packing houses of the North, 
are annually held for fattening at some convenient shipping 
center. Hope secures a great deal of business of this 

character. 

MANUFACTURES 

Owing to the many advantages possessed by the South 

for manufacturing, the number of factories has grown with 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 55 










,-#«^«^ 



STAVE WORKS AT WINNKIELl) 



great speed. Though perhaps the most important of these 
advantages is the proximity of raw materials, others are 
apparent. Fuel costs almost nothing, water is obtainable 
in abundance, land and building materials are cheap and the 
manufacturer is not subjected to the often unreasonable 
demands of organized labor. In Louisiana an additional 




MINDEN BRICK WORKS 



56 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 

advantage exists, as no city or county tax will be levied for 
ten years from January i, 1900, on any factory utilizing the 
raw materials of that State. The counties served by the 
Louisiana and Arkansas Railway had in 1900 407 manufac- 
turing establishments, with total capital of ^4,405,000 and 
output of 14,731,000. Since that date both the number 
and the output have largely increased. Some of the plants 
recently established along the line are the Eureka Stave & 
Heading Works (Chicago capital), at Hope; the Dalton- 
Clark Stave Works, of Huntington, Tenn., at Winnfield ; two 
lumber mills, one at Cotton Valley and one at Jena, and a 
shingle mill at Minden. Other industries, such as spoke 
factories, cotton gins, compresses, oil mills, canning works, 
brick yards and bottling plants, are located in the various 
towns and seem to be in flourishing condition. 




COTTON COMPRESS Ar MI.NDtN 



PRINCIPAL TOWNS 

Because of the needs of the constantly increasing farm- 
ing population and the growth in manufacturing, many of 
the towns on the road have doubled in size in the last four 
years. For the sake of brevity we confine our description 
to five towns, Hope, Stamps, Minden, Winnfield and Jena, 
no two of which are alike in their industries. 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



57 



HOPE 

Hope, the northern terminus of the road, is a prosper- 
ous, energetic community of about 4,000 people. The 
center of a rich farming country, it shipped this year about 
forty carloads of fruits and melons, as compared with less 
than ten carloads the previous year. The ground about 
Hope is very fertile and produces large quantities of long 
staple cotton, as much as a bale and a third per acre having 
been grown on land in this vicinity. 

The city has various industries. Among them are a 
cotton compress, which handled last year about 33,000 bales. 




SHINGLE MILL AT MINDEN 



58 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 

a $100,000 cotton seed oil mill, an iron foundry, a brick 
yard and a canning factory. A short distance from the 
town is a bottling works that ships out a considerable 
amount of mineral water. In the wood-working line are a 
good sized planing mill, a spoke factory with a daily capacity 
of 10,000 spokes, a handle factory and a stave and head- 
ing plant with an output of twenty carloads a week. 

With a population of about 1,600 people at the time of 
the last census, Hope has more than doubled in size in four 
years, with every prospect of continuing its growth. New 
buildings, both for residence and for business purposes, are 
constantly being erected. Its banking facilities are good, 
the town having three banks with total deposits of about 
1500,000. Hope is an important railroad center, with lines 
leaving it in five different directions. Its strong position from 
this point of view alone guarantees its growth, a result made 
doubly sure by its increasing importance as a fruit center. 




HANDLE FACTORY, HOPE 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



59 



STAMPS 

Stamps is a city of perliaps 3,000 people. It depends 
for its existence almost entirely upon the Bodcaw Lumber 
Company, which operates here the largest sawmill in the 
yellow pine belt, shipping last year over 82,000,000 feet of 
lumber. All of this tonnage pays freight to the railroad 
both in the form of logs and as finished lumber. A hard- 
wood mill is the only other large plant tributary to the 
road at this point. 

The Operating Offices of the Louisiana and Arkansas 
Railway are located at Stamps, as well as the company's 
car and machine shops. For the accommodation of its own 
employees and those of the Railway Company, the Bodcaw 
Lumber Company maintains here one of the largest general 
stores in the South, carrying a stock of goods varying from 
1 1 00,000 to 1150,000. 

MINDEN 

Minden, founded about 1835, is one of the oldest towns 
of Northern Louisiana. Most of its growth has occurred 
recently, its population having increased in the last four 
years from 1,600 to 3,000. An energetic immigration society, 
actively working for the best interests of the town, last year 
placed in the vicinity two hundred settlers from Georgia. 




STAVE AND HEADING PLANT AT HOPE 



6o 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




PLANT OF MINDEN LUMBER CO. 



Minden is the county seat of Webster parish and, as 
the largest town in the county, commands all trade within a 
radius of 1 5 or 20 miles. Well provided with stores, having 
two banks with combined deposits of ^450,000, it is also 
one of the most attractive towns on the road in which to 
live. Minden has a high school with an enrollment of 
over 300 pupils and its churches embrace all of the prom- 
inent denominations. A great deal of cotton is tributary to 
the town, because of its compress, which has a capacity of 
about six hundred bales a day. The cotton industry is 
further represented by a gin and by a cotton seed oil and fer- 
tilizer factory, with an annual output of about 1,500 tons of 
fertilizer. The largest plant in the town is that of the 
Minden Lumber Company, which sawed last year 5 5,000,000 
feet of lumber, or an average of about 250 carloads per 
month. The plant employs about 300 men and is one of 
the most modern establishments in this country. 

Other industries include a bottling works, a brick yard, 
a handle factory and a shingle mill with a capacity of 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 6i 




100,000 shingles per day. The entire traffic of the town is 
tributary to the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway exclusively. 
WINNFIELD 

Winnfield is the 
county seat of Winn 
parish and is situated 
in a region containing 
valuable deposits of mar- 
ble and limestone, as yet 
practically untouched. 
Salt exists in consider- 
able quantities around 
the town, but it is not 
now worked to any 
extent. 

One of the largest 
stave factories in the 
state is in operation at hope water works 
Winnfield, its plant having an annual capacity of 15,000,000 




62 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




HOPE ICE PLANT 




SPOKE FACTORY AT HOPE 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



63 



Staves. Among the other industries are a grist mill, two 
bottling works, a cotton gin, a planing mill and a handle 
factory. A sawmill with a capacity of perhaps 60,000 feet 
a day is building an extensive plant and negotiations are 
under way for the location of another sawmill and a foundry 

and machine shop. 

JENA 

Jena is at present the southern terminus of the Louisi- 
ana and Arkansas Railway. The town is situated in the 
center of probably the finest body of longleaf pine still 




)M BI.K' SCHnilL .W HlirE 



Standing in the South. A lumber mill with a daily capacity 
of I 50,000 feet is being erected at this point by interests 
closely connected with the management of the railroad. 
With the exception of an additional sawmill Jena has at 
present no other manufacturing interests. Much farming 
is done, however, and good corn, sugar cane and cotton are 
raised. 



64 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




HOPE LUMBER MILL 



A few miles south of Jena are the celebrated White 

Sulphur Springs. The curative properties of the water and 

the bracing air of the pine forests in which the springs are 

located combine to make the spot an ideal one for invalids. 

No little business should result from traffic to and from this 

point. 

FINANCIAL POSITION 

The earnings of the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway for 

the last three fiscal years have been as follows : 




STREET SCENE AT HOPE 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



65 



Year ended June 30, 
Miles operated, . 
Gross earnings, 
Operating expenses and taxes 

Net earnings, . 
Other income. 

Total net income, . 
Fixed charges. 

Surplus, .... 



1904. i90j- 1902. 

147.77 127.17 97 

^704,671 $532,534 $478,532 

487»795 37i>707 295,575 

$216,876 $160,827 $182,957 

24,186 17,843 

$241,062 $178,670 $182,957 

125,605 70,027 33,001 



$115,457 $108,643 $149,956 
The increase in gross earnings from 1902 to 1903 was 
1 1.3 per cent., while from 1903 to 1904 it was 2~'3 P^^ 




RESIDENCE AT HOPE 



cent. Earnings appHcahle to the payment of interest rose 
34.9 per cent, in the fiscal year just ended and amounted 
to about double the fixed charges. The interest charge for 
the year amounted to $850 per mile, as compared with 
average annual revenue applicable to interest for the past 
three years of 11,641 per mile. 

The present ration of 69 per cent, between operating 
expenses and gross earnings compares favorably with that 
of other roads operating in the same territory. A consid- 



66 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



erable reduction in the ratio, however, will probably be 
effected during the coming year. 

The balance sheet at the close of the fiscal year 1904 
makes a very strong showing. Working liabilities amount 
to |i28,ooo, while working assets are |28o,ooo, actual cash 
alone amounting to ^214,000, or $86,000 more than the 
total working liabilities. The profit and loss surplus ac- 
cumulated in two years amounts to $222,000, or about Sj4 
per cent, on the outstanding capital stock. The company's 
bonded indebtedness is $2,724,000, at the rate of about 
$14,550 per mile of completed road. For purposes of 
comparison it may be interesting to observe that the bonded 
indebtedness of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway amounts 
to $30,000 per mile, that of the Texas & Pacific to $3 1,000 
per mile and that of the St, Louis, Iron Mountain & 
Southern to $45,000 per mile. 




RESIDENCE AT HOPE 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 67 




HARDWOOD MILL AT STAMPS 



SOURCES OF REVENUE 

During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1904, the gross 
earnings of the company amounted to 1704,000. Of this 
amount the freight department contributed 1613,000 and 
the passenger department ^75,000, while 1 16,000 was 
derived from miscellaneous sources. As compared with 
the previous year, the passenger earnings increased 37^ 
per cent, and the mail and express earnings 52 per cent. 
These figures are of interest as indicating the growth of the 
country and the broadening of the industries tributary to 
the road. Lumber constitutes the major part of the freight 
business of the line, although trafiic in agricultural products, 
manufactures and minerals is increasing more rapidly than 
that in the products of the forest. As compared with the 
fiscal year 1903, the movement of agricultural products 
increased 29 per cent., of manufactures 45 per cent, and of 
minerals 252 per cent. Comparing the same two years, the 



68 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




traffic in forest products Increased 21 per cent. As the 
freight rates on manufactures and agricultural products are 
much higher than on logs and lumber, the increase in 
diversified tonnage is very profitable for the railroad. 

CONCLUSION 
A few of the dis- 
tinguishing characteris- 
tics of the Louisiana and 
Arkansas Railway m.ay 
be summed up briefly 
in closing. The road 
runs through one of the 
finest bodies of longleaf 
pine now standing. At 
the present rate of cut- 
ting, the timber will last 
for twenty-five years; 
and, as additional tracts 
are still held out of the market for future sale, the timber 
will undoubtedly last much longer. Of the timber tributary 
to the road, over 6,000,000,000 feet are controlled by inter- 
ests affiliated with the management, insuring a heavy ton- 
nage from this source for many years to come. As the land 




HOME AT STAMI'; 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



69 



is cleared it is taken up for agriculture, which is increasing 
rapidly. Probably 75 per cent, of the different varieties of 
farm produce grown in the United States can be raised on 
land tributary to the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway and 
the seasons are so mild that two and three crops a year can be 
gathered. Good farming land is plentiful and cheap. No 
better place than this region for the location of woodwork- 
ing and textile plants exists in this country to-day, as fuel, 
water, and labor are obtainable at most reasonable figures. 
In Louisiana, establishments for the development of local 
resources are exempt from taxation until 19 10. 

In the matter of connections the Louisiana and Arkansas 
Railway occupies an extraordinarily strong position. Its 
forest resources, coupled with its access to the treeless 
prairies of the West, make certain a heavy north-bound 
traffic, while the absence of coal in Southern Louisiana neces- 
sitates shipments from Northern Arkansas. Its St. Louis 
connections afford ample facilities for the delivery of fruit 
and garden truck. 




STAMPS ICE PLANT 



7° 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



More than 90 per cent, of the traffic of the road orig- 
inates on its own Hnes, making it very valuable to its 
connections. Foreign tonnage is steadily increasing, how- 
ever, that for the fiscal year 1904 being double that for 
1903. Upon the completion of the Natchez extension, if 
not before, the road will form part of a through route from 
the grain fields of the West to New Orleans and a great 
deal of outside business should result. Not only grain, 
but flour, packing-house products, coal, and cotton should 
also contribute to a heavy volume of south-bound freight. 
The north-bound traffic should include sugar, rice, and 
tobacco for the West, in addition to imports entering the 
country through New Orleans. 

Earnings have shown steady gains. From $118,000 
in 1 901 the earnings applicable to the payment of interest 
increased to $241,000 in the year just ended. They are 
now about double the fixed charges. The road has no 
floating debt and its bonded indebtedness per mile is less 
than half of other railroads in the same territory. 




LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




RESIDENCES AT STAMPS 



The management is in the hands of conservative busi- 
ness men, who have been for years in close touch with the 
country and who understand the best methods to be em- 
ployed for its development. Mr, William Buchanan, the 
president, has been connected with the lumber business for 
thirty years and is well known as a highly successful man. 
To the upbuilding of the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway 
and the country that it serves, Mr. Buchanan is devoting 
the same energy that has made his lumber interests so 
remunerative and his 
endeavors are bearing 
golden fruit. Mr. F. H. 
Drake, vice-president, is 
one of the leading busi- 
ness men of Minden, 
La. Mr. J. A. Buchan- 
an, secretary and treas- 
urer, is a brother of 
the president and is con- 
nected with him in many 
of his business enter- 
prises. Mr. J. H.White, 
general superintendent, 
and Mr. J. H. Conlan, 
superintendent, are well 




)1H-A\V I.AkK, 



, KAR MC KAMIE 



72 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




RESIDENCE AT MINDEN 



acquainted with southern roads, having come to the Louis- 
iana & Arkansas from the "Cotton Belt." Mr. B. S. 
Atkinson, general freight agent, was formerly connected 
with the "Queen & Crescent." Mr. F. S. Carroll, auditor, 




CHURCH AT MINDKN- 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 



73 




MINDEN S MAIN STREET 



also obtained his training with a southern road, the Kansas 
City Southern, Col. Knobel, chief engineer, has spent 
his life in engineering work in the South and is unusually 
well qualified for his position. The Industrial Depart- 
ment, recently established, is in charge of Mr. R. L. Pritch- 
ard, who occupied a similar position with the Central of 
Georgia Railway. 



74 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




MI.NDEN HKjH school 



These officers have had much to do with the develop- 
ment of the country tributary to the road, and, having kept 
in close touch with the changing situation, they reaHze the 
improvement that has taken place. They have seen the 




RESIDENCE AT MINDEN 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 75 







RESIDENCE \ i MIM'h \ 

timber gradually removed along the line of the road and its 
place taken by farms, the cabins of the axemen succeeded 




WINNFIELD COURT HOUSE 



76 LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 




BUSINESS BUILDING AT WINFIELII 



by factories and the factories form the nucleus for prosper- 
ous towns. That the development will continue they 
believe without question, and such confidence in the rail- 
road and the country that it serves, supported by existing 
conditions, will admit of no result but success. 




THREE HOURS SPORT, JENA 



LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY -j-j 

LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS RAILWAY 
COMPANY 

FINANCIAL STATEMENT 

Miles of road owned, 187.20 

Capital Stock outstanding, ^2,625,000 

Bonded Indebtedness outstanding, .... 2,724,000 

DESCRIPTION OF FUNDED DEBT 

First Mortgage Gold Five Per Cent. Bonds. Date of issue, 
September i, 1902. Date of maturity, September i, 1927. Prin- 
cipal and interest payable in gold, free of all taxes. Interest, 
March and September. Standard Trust Co., New York, Trustee. 
Secured by first lien on all of the property of the company now 
owned or which may be acquired hereafter. Authorized, $7,000,- 
000; outstanding, June 30, 1904, $2,724,000, or $14,550 per 
mile of completed road. Of the balance, $1,000,000 is reserved 
for the construction or acquisition of a bridge across the Black 
River and a bridge across the Red River and $3,276,000 for exten- 
sions, equipment, improvements, and betterments, the issuance of 
bonds being limited to the actual cost of construction and to a 
maximum of $20,000 per mile of completed road, excluding the 
reservation for bridges. 

The entire issue, but no part, will be subject to redemption at 
1 10 and accrued interest on any interest day after September i, 
1907. Beginning with 1907, the bonds will be entitled to the 
benefit of a sinking fund of $55,000 per annum, to be used by the 
Trustee in the purchase of bonds at a price not to exceed 110 and 
accrued interest. Should it be impossible to purchase bonds at this 
rate, the sinking fund may be invested in securities in which savings 
banks at that time are authorized to invest according to the laws of 
New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, or Connecticut. 

Coupon bonds, in the denomination of $1,000, may be regis- 
tered either fully or as to principal only. 

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange. 

FisK & Robinson, _ _ _ _ New York, 

Fiscal Agents for payment of coupons and registered interest and 
for registration of bonds. 



Lof 



NOV 2t 1904 



y- ■ ■-5>'i. .-•.-•;; v.M« r,;,;: •r(l-'^-'i:'.(''^yM^aRi:^^Ssi^WW 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 646 100 1 m 



